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Thunder sinks Fresno in preseason opener, Urquhart scores twice

October 10, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


STOCKTON, Calif. - Cory Urquhart scored three points (2g-1a) in his debut and rookie Andrew Perugini made 32 saves as the Stockton Thunder (1-0-0 preseason) notched a 5-1 preseason win over the Fresno Falcons in front of 2,048 fans at Stockton Arena on Thursday.

The Thunder improved to 4-3-0 in lifetime preseason play against Fresno while David Rohlfs, Milan Maslonka and Neil Petruic each chipped in with a goal. Stockton, who finished last in the league in penalty kill percentage last year, held Fresno to a 0-for-7 clip on the power-play.

Urquhart broke a scoreless tie at 3:41 in the second period to open a four-goal rally in the middle 20 minute stretch, when he corralled a loose puck, skated from a defender on a shorthanded breakaway, deked Fresno goaltender Ryan Nie twice and wristed a shot underneath his pads.

Just over a minute later, Rohlfs gave the Thunder a 2-0 lead when his wrist shot from just outside the right face-off circle found its way under Nie's right leg.

Maslonka's goal made it 3-0 in favor of Stockton when he took a no-look drop pass from Urquhart and wired a one-timer from the left point at 8:52 of the second period. Two minutes later while on a power play, Petruic buried a one-timer from the high slot at 11:51 that found the upper right corner of the net, converting a feed by Mike Lalonde to hike the lead at 4-0.

Urquhart tacked on his second goal of the night with 11:23 left in the game when he received an outlet pass from Jordan Bendfeld after emerging from the penalty box. Urquhart found himself one-on-one with Nie and lobed a shot over the left pad for a 5-0 cushion.

Perugini had his shutout bid snapped with 5:13 remaining when a scramble in front of the Stockton net allowed Fresno's Dustin Sproat to slide a wrist shot from the left circle under Perugini's glove, cutting the Thunder lead to 5-1.

Perugini closed the book on his 32-save night by spreading out for a point-blank shot by Sproat in the closing seconds of the game.

NOTES: The Thunder scratched Tim Boron (healthy), Cleve Kinley (healthy), Marc-Andre Bernier (injury), Tom Zanoski (injury) and Ryan Huddy (healthy) ... before the game, the Thunder released goaltender Danny Roy from his training camp tryout agreement ... Stockton and Fresno will face each other three straight times, including the ECHL season opener on October 18.

The Thunder and Fresno face a rematch on Saturday, Oct. 11 at Gateway Ice Center in Fresno, starting at 7:00 p.m.

The proud ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League's Edmonton Oilers and American Hockey League's Springfield Falcons, the Thunder was voted "Best Local Sports Team" by readers of the San Joaquin Magazine, has led the ECHL in attendance for three consecutive seasons and drew 239,337 fans to Stockton Arena in 2007-08. Season, group, individual tickets and mini plan packages are on sale now. For more information about tickets, merchandise, or other inquiries contact the Stockton Thunder offices at (209) 373-1500 or visit www.StocktonThunder.com.



ECHL Stories from October 10, 2008


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